3rd drupa Global Trends report available soon

Just weeks before the opening of drupa 2016, the world’s leading trade fair for print and cross-media solutions, results of the 3rd drupa Global Trends report have been published.

The report finds that although recovery from the financial crisis in 2008 is incomplete and uneven, printers everywhere are increasingly optimistic about their prospects throughout 2016, despite tightening margins and falling prices—which is influencing plans for investment in production equipment.

The three reports are based on surveys of a global panel of about 750 printers about the state of the printing industry and expectations about its future over the three years leading up to drupa 2016.

Sabine Geldermann, director of drupa states: “This year’s drupa is a showcase for the latest developments in the global printing industry. By commissioning the series of drupa Global Trends reports, we are able to put these new developments into context with the state of the industry as a whole. Anyone visiting drupa this year will find the reports provide invaluable background information.”

The research and writing of the reports were handled by Richard Gray and Neil Falconer of the specialist consultancy and market research company Print Future.

“The previous report in 2015 was upbeat in general, globally,” says Gray. “In 2016 the picture is patchier, with some regions thriving, such as North America, others are struggling, including some of the developing regions. Similarly while packaging and functional markets are in general doing well, those in the commercial market are more challenged and those in the publishing market particularly so.”

In each report the responses of printers have been gathered and averaged to create a barometer of economic confidence.

Some 37 percent of the global panel of printers described their current condition in 2015 as good, although a significant 12 percent said their condition was poor, giving a positive net balance of 25 percent.

Looking ahead, printers were in general more positive, with 50 percent  expecting their economic condition to improve in 2016 compared with just 6 percent expecting it to deteriorate – a positive balance of 44 percent.

According to region, all printers are more optimistic for 2016 than 2015, but the biggest increases in positive ratings are in Africa, Australia/Oceania, Middle East and Asia. According to sector, all the 2016 forecasts are more optimistic, with commercial and functional printing showing the greatest increase compared to 2015.

Digital prospects
Looking at some 14 common print processes, the report found that digital technologies are growing fastest (on average by 28 percent annually), but that sheet fed offset lithography is also seeing significant growth, particularly in publishing (net positive growth of 7 percent) and packaging (+12 percent).

Flexography is also doing very well in packaging (+18 percent), and gravure is also seeing a modest but definite growth (+3 percent) in this sector. Functional printing is a growth area for screen printing (+11 percent), although digital is very important as well.

While the majority of turnover still comes from conventional print, there is a steady increase in the volume and value of digital print, with the exception of packaging where only 13 percent reported that it represents more than 25 percent of turnover, compared to 35 percent for commercial, 24 percent for publishing and 59 percent for functional.

The ability of digital to print variable content is important, with 59 percent of functional printers and 35 percent of commercial printers reporting that more than 25 percent of their digital turnover was variable.

Web to print seems to have stalled, with only a percentage point of growth from 2014 (25 percent of printers had it) to 2015 (26 percent). Only North America as a region and functional print as a sector saw significant increases in volumes going through web to print.

Limits for growth
Both printers and suppliers cited strong competition as the biggest  constraint to growth, with lack of sales being almost as large a factor. As a reason they reported finding new customers as the largest factor (58 percent) and finding good sales staff at second place (35 percent). About 32 percent blamed lack of demand for conventional print, but only 10 percent said the same for digital.

Obtaining the full reports
The full report will be released in English in a few weeks; the Executive Summary will be available in seven languages (German, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Chinese) at www.drupa.com.

The three annual drupa Global Trends reports complement two drupa Global Insights reports, which focus on technical trends and changes. Both the first Global Insights report “The Impact of the Internet on Print – The digital flood” and the second report “Touch the future – Applications that can create growth” are available for download from the drupa website.

The drupa 2016 trade show will take place from May 31 – June 10, 2016 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.

For further information on visiting or exhibiting at drupa 2016 contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. T: 312-781-5180; F: 312-781-5188; E: info@mdna.com; or www.mdna.com.

Image above from iStock.